View full sizeIt was all smiles for Portland and dejected looks for Real Salt Lake as Kalif Alhassan scored his first goal in 2013 in the 85th minute. Alhassan came on for Darlington Nagbe and was nearly the hero in this match until RSL scored the leveling goal in late stoppage time as the teams played to a 3 all draw.Jennifer Kesgard, community blogger

Timbers
Coach Caleb Porter has been dealing with several injury issues – midfielder
Will Johnson hasn't resumed training since his shoulder injury against RSL in
the USOC match, while defender Jack Jewsbury, forward Frederic Piquionne and
defender Futty Danso are all dealing with lingering knocks on ankles or feet –
and another stretch of compressed matches in the MLS schedule. After the draw versus Vancouver and the USOC
match, Portland had a full 10 days off before
looking at four matches in a 13 day period, including two tough road matches –
FC Dallas on 8/17, RSL on 8/21, then at Seattle
8/25 and RSL again on 8/30. Despite all
of that, Porter stuck with the same starting eleven that generated a positive
result against FCD: Donovan Ricketts in goal; Alvas Powell, Pa Modou Kah,
Andrew Jean-Baptiste and Michael Harrington in defense; Ben Zemanski, Diego
Chara, and Diego Valeri in midfield; and Darlington Nagbe, Rodney Wallace and
Ryan Johnson at forward. Because of the
injury issues, Porter had several new faces for his available subs – goalkeeper
Milos Kocic, midfielder Kalif Alhassan, forward Jose Valencia, defender Ryan Miller,
defender Rauwshan McKenzie, midfielder Sal Zizzo and midfielder Steven Evans.

View full sizeTimbers goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts jumps very high to make a save against Real Salt Lake. Ricketts had several good saves and deflections, but the Timbers also gave up 3 goals for just the second time in the 2013 season.Jennifer Kesgard, community blogger

While Porter
stayed true and consistent with his lineup, his counterpart for Real Salt
Lake, Jason Kreis,
decided to make some rather dramatic alterations in his starting eleven. While midfielder Kyle Beckerman would not be
available due to suspension for yellow card accumulation, Kreis also left two
key core players off the game day roster completely – goalkeeper Nick Rimando
and forward Alvaro Saborio. Kreis gave
young goalkeeper Jeff Attinella his third start of the season, but he used
several veteran defenders in front of him – Chris Wingert, Nat Borchers, Tony
Beltran and Brandon McDonald. Midfielder Yordany Alvarez stepped into
Beckerman's midfield role after serving a three match suspension for a red card
tackle on New York
midfielder Tim Cahill, while veteran midfielder Khari Stephenson joined fellow
vets Javier Morales and Ned Grabavoy in the middle. Up top, Kreis employed forward Robbie
Findley, a former Oregon State product and a player Portland held MLS right to after the 2011 MLS
Expansion draft and diminutive but dangerous scorer Joao Plata.

Considering
this was a battle for first place in the Western Conference – Real Salt Lake was at the top of the table with 41 points while
Portland sat in
third with 38 points but they could catch RSL with a win – I was surprised at
the differing lineup tactics. However,
Kreis is entering his seventh coaching season in MLS and there aren't many
better tacticians when it comes to understanding the psyche and health of his
club, although Porter is becoming a very fast study in his first season. As the Timbers entered the pitch in their
primary green kits (or forest and cream if you really want to be fancy), I
thought this shaped up as one of the most entertaining matches we might see in
MLS for the 2013 season. While I was
right there, it also turned into an agonizing, emotional, frustrating,
exhilarating and ultimately strenuous experience to watch.

First Half Thoughts: Portland appeared willing
to push the early tempo and create chances, and in the 4th minute,
they came very close to taking the early lead.
Nagbe collected a ball at mid-pitch and dropped it for a charging Powell
who made a superb run into the stadium's northeast corner and put a crossing
pass in for a teammate. Borchers was
first to the ball and tried to deflect out for a clearance, but he slipped and
the ball fell to the feet of Valeri. The
Timbers midfielder sized up the chance and took a shot towards the far post,
but instead of getting inside the net, it struck the post and deflected
out. Wallace was the first to collect
and he triggered back to Harrington to regroup, and he put a crossing pass to
R. Johnson, who put his right boot into the shot right at Attinella. However, Ryan was a step offside as the flag
was up so the play was dead. Regardless,
it was a great opening sequence to put Real Salt Lake on their heels.

Portland continued this trend and finally
broke through in the 24th minute off a set piece play. Wallace was fouled about 40 yards from the
box to give the Timbers a free kick chance.
Valeri put the restart towards the penalty spot, and Wallace got in
front of his mark rather easily to head the ball into goal for an early home
side lead. For Valeri, it was the
seventh consecutive Timbers goal that he assisted on, giving him 11 for the
season, while Wallace's last goal for Portland
dated back to the Timbers huge 2 to 0 road win against D.C. United back on May
25. The early dominance was paying
dividends with Portland
firmly in control, but there was still plenty of time for things to change for
either side.

View full sizeTimbers defender Ryan Miller and midfielder Diego Chara chase down RSL defender Tony Beltran in stoppage time during the Portland - Real Salt Lake match. Beltran was able to get past both players to drop it to Luis Gil, who took a shot that was deflected by Andrew Jean-Baptiste. Unfortunately for Portland, the rebound fell to Cole Grossman who was able to tie the match for the visitors.Jennifer Kesgard, community blogger

Sure enough, RSL seemed to awaken
after falling behind and they began to find space to work although Portland did generate
goal chances for Kah and Jean-Baptiste off set pieces around the half hour
mark. More set pieces gave Portland additional shots
at goal, but they were unable to extend their lead as Attinella was finding his
confidence as his offense was starting to find room to work. In the 38th minute, Morales triggers
in a free kick from the left flank that Wallace headed towards the corner for
Valeri, who was settling under the ball.
Valeri tried to bicycle the ball out, but Morales bumped Valeri from the
ball and easily stole it to then move on the attack along the goal line towards
Ricketts. Harrington moved in to force a
pass that found Alvarez for a header that Ricketts saved but the ball squirted
out of his hands to a waiting Borchers.
The RSL defenseman tapped the ball past Ricketts to level the score, stunning
the Timbers fans. While I give credit to
Morales for his hard work on the play, he also nearly caught Valeri with a
flying elbow that probably should have been called, but it wasn't.

The officiating would be called into
question again five minutes later when Center Official Ricardo Salazar made a
crucial call for RSL. Stephenson lined
up a shot towards Ricketts in the 38th that was saved and was
bouncing towards the top of the box. As Morales moved in for the shot,
Jean-Baptiste came to defend with his arms extended. Morales moved forward
under the arm and promptly fell down on the spot, and Salazar immediately blew
the whistle for a penalty kick. While
replays show that Jean-Baptiste didn't help his case with extending his arm
across Morales, the contact was exaggerated with Morales diving for the
call. The penalty was awarded and
Morales converted with a rather unorthodox stutter step run that forced
Ricketts right while he shot left.

For Portland, it was a stunning development to go
from being in complete control of a match to now looking at a deficit while
your opponent has gained all sorts of confidence in their play. The restart saw Powell get fouled to no call
and the restlessness of the crowd was growing as Salazar's calls were becoming
difficult to follow along with. The
situation grew worse in stoppage time when Morales was trapped along the
touchline and Chara went into defend and ended up fouling him. The contact was
enough that Salazar gave Chara a caution, giving him the magic number of five
on the season and triggering a one game suspension, meaning Chara would not be
able to play against Seattle
on 8/25. While Chara kicked the ball in
frustration at the situation, it was a loss of composure that will put Portland in a predicament
for their next match.

Second Half Thoughts: Neither team made any personnel
changes, but Portland
was late in returning to the pitch, so I would assume that Porter was giving
his side an extended halftime message.
Upon the restart, Portland
began to show the early possession and passing that they displayed in the
match's first 30 minutes and they nearly leveled in the 49th
minute. Portland earned another free kick from
midpitch attacking the south goal, and Valeri pushed the effort out wide
towards the far post. R. Johnson was completely unmarked and put a header right
at Attinella, who blocked it out which allowed his teammates to rush over and
quickly defend. While AJB did his best to try and turn it about for a shot, it
rolled over the goal line for a restart.

View full sizeCenter official Ricardo Salazar ended up making several big calls in the match between Portland and Real Salt Lake. He made a penalty call against Andrew Jean-Baptiste for apparently dragging RSL midfielder Javier Morales to the ground. While I do agree that AJB needed to be more careful with his hands on an opposing player in the box, Morales dove to get the call.Jennifer Kesgard, community blogger

Five minutes
later, Portland
would get the benefit of a Salazar call when a ball in the center circle
settled for Nagbe, and he chipped forward for a charging Wallace to
attack. With Beltran and McDonald both
giving chase, the ball bounced off McDonald's arm and elbow in the box and
Salazar immediately pointed to the spot for a second penalty kick. As a defender in my recreational league
matches, I've had this happen to me and it's rather unfortunate when an errant
bounce leads to a penalty, but in this case, I was pleased that Portland finally got a
call. Not only was it the correct judgment,
I felt that the Timbers' tempo, pace and passion led to this situation where
the officiating gave them an advantage.
Valeri stepped up to take the penalty kick, and confidently blasted it
to the right while sending Attinella to the left to even the score at two. After assisting on Portland's past seven goals, it was nice to
see the playmaker get his due.

Circumstances
went further into the Timbers' favor in the 78th minute. With substitute forward Jose Valencia marking
Alvarez in the middle of the pitch and Morales tapping a ball back to him,
Valencia moved in to his mark and the ball was knocked back towards Chara about
20 yards behind them. Alvarez decided to
attack the Timbers midfielder at full speed, but when he ran past Chara trying
to block the pass, he kicked Chara in the inner leg and thigh causing him to
crumple to the turf. Salazar pulled out his cards and immediately showed
Alvarez the red card for the infraction.
Alvarez was just returning to the RSL lineup after serving a three match
suspension for his red card tackle on New
York midfielder Tim Cahill on July 27 where he struck
Cahill's knee with the studs on his boot. The ejection left RSL with just 10 available
players when Kreis made his final move to bring on midfielder Cole Grossman for
Plata, so when Attinella went down with an injury moments later, there were
concerns that RSL might have to finish with a field player in goal.

Ricketts had
also been taking a beating in goal, as he had spent several minutes on at least
two occasions on the turf trying to recover from a bump by an RSL player or
moving quickly towards a ball to save.
With the Timbers circling about and having an advantage in numbers, they
continued to attack the goal and in the 85th minute, they were
finally able to take the lead. With
Zemanski and Powell linking with substitute midfielder Kalif Alhassan on a wonderful
passing triangle down in the southwest corner, the buildup led to a Powell
cross for Valencia
in the box. Valencia tapped the ball back to
Alhassan, who had moved to the top of the box unmarked and had an open shot at
goal. Kalif launched a shot that Attinella
got a finger to, but he couldn't stop the ball from striking the net to put the
Timbers on top 3 to 2. For Alhassan, it
was his first MLS goal since the Timbers home opening win against Philadelphia back in
2012, and based upon the reactions on the pitch, it looked like this might be
the final goal of the night.

However,
because of the substitutions, penalties and other stoppages in play, the game
was extended into six minutes of stoppage time.
Porter brought on defender Ryan Miller to give the Timbers more
defensive options on the pitch, but what I noticed about Portland was that after getting the goal to
put them ahead, they retreated from their normal attacking style and this
allowed RSL to attack the defense in waves.
Three minutes into stoppage with Portland
in full clearance mode, RSL earned a free kick from the middle of the pitch
with Morales at the controls. His long
free kick flew into the box where Kah headed clear to the corner. Chara, Miller
and Beltran ran after the loose ball.

View full sizeReal Salt Lake midfielder Yordany Alvarez was just returning to the lineup after serving a three match suspension for a red card received against New York back in late July. In his first game action since then, Alvarez received another red card for kicking Timbers midfielder Diego Chara in the upper leg and thigh trying to stop a forward run. It was a rather dangerous and unnecessary play and put RSL down to 10 men for the last 10 minutes of the match.Jennifer Kesgard, community blogger

Beltran was
first to it, and he controlled it moving towards the goal line with Miller and
Chara defending. Beltran was able to get
free of both Timbers and push it into an open area. RSL substitute Luis Gil teed up a shot but it
bounced off AJB and spun towards Grossman who was open at the top of the box. The midfielder, making his season debut, was
able to collect the ball and shoot it into the lower right corner of the net
past Ricketts for their third goal, causing a raucous pro-Timbers crowd to go
quickly silent in shock. RSL players
piled on Grossman in celebration, and the pattern continued minutes later on
the final whistle as they celebrated earning a point in a match where they
simply didn't have many things going their way.

Final Thoughts: It was a stunning result for the
Timbers. While they didn't lose the match, they certainly had every advantage
in their favor in the final minutes, but they unfortunately relaxed at a few
key junctures which allowed Real
Salt Lake
to regain some momentum for their benefit. Portland must
now regroup from the draw with a Cascadia Cup match in Seattle looming on August 25. RSL was simply trying to gain a result on the
road, and leaving here with a point in dramatic fashion fit the bill for
them. Considering they did it with
several key regulars out just made the accomplishment that much more special. As long as Portland can put the result behind them, they
should be fine especially since they'll get another crack at RSL on the road in
just nine days time

For more perspective on the match and a full list of player evaluations, click
here for the second part of my match report which will be available soon.